Consumer adoption of mobile devices, such as cellular telephones, laptop computers, pagers, personal digital assistants, and the like, is increasing. These devices can be used for a diversity of purposes (or activities) ranging from basic communications, to conducting business transactions, to managing entertainment media, and a host of other activities, e.g., asset tracking, content streaming, document editing, etc. When not plugged into an outlet, execution of one or more of these activities is limited to the extent with which a power source (e.g., battery) of the mobile device can power the execution of the activities. In order to aid consumers attempting to choose one mobile device over another, manufacturers typically provide consumers with power source performance guidelines indicating, for instance, maximum amounts of time (or duration) for conducting phone calls (e.g., “talk time”), for resting in an idle state (e.g., “standby time” or “hibernation time”), for presenting content (e.g., “multimedia playback time”), and the like. This information is useful when purchasing a mobile device, however, provides little in the way of monitoring, assessing, and managing the performance of the power supply subsequent to purchase, such as when the power supply depletes, ages, and/or otherwise cycles.
Therefore, there is a need for an approach that can efficiently and effectively monitor, assess, and manage power source performance.